Substance Abuse Prevention Dollars and Cents: A Cost-Benefit Analysis

This report summarizes existing estimates of the cost of substance abuse and its damaging consequences. These cost estimates are used to evaluate the benefits of prevention in existing cost-benefit analyses and are available for use in new analyses. The estimates reviewed highlight the total annual cost of substance abuse from a number of perspectives including social cost and the direct costs to State government. The social perspective includes everyone’s costs and benefits: People who abuse substances, family members, the general public, communities, and all level of government (Federal, State, and local).